Price Considering 2015 Brisbane Winter Carnival for Lankan Rupee

After a brilliant win in the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (1000m) on Saturday, five-year-old gelding Lankan Rupee has won all three of the big autumn sprint races.

Lankan Rupee could race beyond 1200m for the first time during the Brisbane Winter Carnival. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.

Trainer Mick Price is now considering stepping Lankan Rupee out beyond 1200 metres for the first time, and the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival may just be the place to do it.

Doomben Racecourse will play host to two Group One races over 1350 metres during the carnival, both with lucrative prize money on offer.

A three-run autumn campaign is already set for Lankan Rupee. The gelding will head to the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington 14 where he will reignite his rivalry with Terravista before defending his title in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 4.

If Lankan Rupee still has gas left in the tank after that, Price will consider a trip to Brisbane.

“I think he’d do it on his ear,” Price told Racing Victoria about the gelding’s ability to run a strong 1400m.

“Especially as he gets a bit seasoned, and that’s why I’m thinking about Brisbane and those 1350-metre races at Doomben.

“He’s having three runs (to start with), but he’s still going to be full of himself as a gelding. He’s got plenty of weight on him and he’s perfectly sound, so I think those distances will be part of what we do.”